How to Spot Unproductive Employees in Your Company

After decades of experience at the front line of the staffing and recruitment industry, we’ve seen every kind of worker you can imagine and developed a keen eye for talent and trouble alike. Employers trust our recruitment franchise to produce a shortlist of quality candidates, and that means having the talent, technique, and instinct it takes to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”

While developing these skills, we’ve found that unproductive employees generally adopt the same mindset; they will even start using the same telling phrases in the workplace! If you’ve got an ear for these phrases, you can spot the unproductive employees costing your business money and closed sales.

Unproductive Employee Red Flag Statements

“I’ll Wrap This Up Tomorrow.”

Unproductive employees won’t refuse to work outright, but they will procrastinate as much as possible. They’ll look for any opportunity to tell you that it’s too late in the day to dive into something new. The employee goes home with a day’s pay for a fraction of the productivity you’d expect. And how do they do it? They tell you they’ll wrap their assigned task up tomorrow, or whenever they get their current workload off the table.

If you notice one of your employees responds to tasks by constantly insisting they’ll wrap it up the following day, it should raise a red flag.

“I Am Being Overworked!” or “Your Quota is Unrealistic.”

Our recruitment franchise believes in reasonable, healthy productivity, not slave-driving. That said, many people simply don’t work hard enough, even in today’s competitive job market. They’ll tell you they’re mentally exhausted, overworked, or creatively “dry” after only a few hours of effort. Breaks are important, and pacing your workload is paramount, but whining about being overworked is usually a sign that your employee isn’t willing to keep pace.

“I Wasn’t Told To Do That” or “That’s Not My Responsibility.”

Unproductive workers will shirk from any responsibility they can. They end up giving too much attention to the work others aren’t doing, rather than what they should be doing. These statements indicate a clear lack of initiative. This employee is waiting to have every tiny task given in excruciating detail. If you miss a step or two, they’ll exploit this oversight and use it as an excuse to slack. This is not the caliber of worker out recruitment franchise recommends!

“I Was in the Bathroom!” or “Can I Take a Smoke Break?”

If an employee is constantly telling you that they want to step away, it’s a clear sign that trouble is brewing. Breaks are important for creative energy, improving mood, and increasing productivity, but they must be structured. Taking breaks too often ruins the creative and productive benefits, and keeps your employee distracted from the task at hand. Find the best work-to-rest balance for your industry, and ensure that your employees comply.

You can learn more ways to spot unproductive employees – and find channels to hire top-tier talents that won’t give you these headaches – by visiting our website today.